


Falling with Style

by Trixxster103



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Gem Egg Hell, Geodes, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, No Ovipostion, non-explicit mentions of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8843212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixxster103/pseuds/Trixxster103
Summary: It wasn’t fair. By all logical and statistical probability there should’ve been no conceivable way that Pearl was carrying geodes. Garnet's geodes. Pearl panics, Garnet unfuses, Sapphire's suspicious and Ruby makes it all better.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I literally never thought I'd write a gem egg fic and yet here I am. I'm not much a fan of oviposition though so I thought I'd try and put my own spin on the geode idea. Plus the RubyxSapphirexPearl tag is way too empty and needs more fics which is where this one came from.

              It wasn’t fair. By all logical and statistical probability it should’ve never happened. Even with the fact that they’d fused six times in about as many days for a particularly difficult mission, there should’ve been no conceivable way that Pearl was carrying geodes. Even if after they had retreated to Pearl’s room to…. Pearl blushed just thinking about it, the fact that it had been practically every other day during that week long mission. Not that she regretted those nights with Garnet. Not at all. It was only two years since the Sardonyx incident, but they’d both come so far and Pearl never wanted either of them to regret taking that next step in their relationship that had been bubbling under the surface for thousands of years. The thought of carrying Garnet’s gemlings was exhilarating. But mostly terrifying. 

              Gems were very infertile, though pearls, especially later era one pearls, had tended to be the exception to the rule, but only by a few percentile. Most gems didn’t even know that sexual reproduction between two gems was even possible or how. Pearl herself wasn’t even sure how. It could’ve been one of the nights in the past week or it could’ve been three weeks ago, when she surprised Garnet in the Boiler Room and things turned heated without any help from the lava or it even could’ve been a month ago, their first time, when Garnet was so agonizingly slow and patient and gentle that Pearl had thought she would combust in her arms. There was no way of knowing when exactly it had been, that kind of thing was difficult to pinpoint, but there was no doubt that it had happened.

              Pearl remembered only a few such cases on Homeworld. They were secret and important. Not just anyone could form geodes with a pearl, you needed special permission. Gemlings were special. They were like a fusion, but not exactly, not the same. Hell, even two gems of the same type didn’t always make the same fusion from gem to gem. Ruby and Sapphire formed Garnet, but there had once been another ruby in the Crystal Gems, whom Sapphire had only once allowed to fuse with her to save her dear Ruby, and they formed Hackmanite, rare and angry. A gemling was special. The closest idea Pearl had to compare to was Steven. It would be both her and Garnet, but not Sardonyx. Similar, but also different. An entirely new Gem. With no set purpose. Free to make her own choices.

              Homeworld had utilized these special gems as slaves. It was a punishment for all parties involved. Gemlings, like stable fusion, couldn’t happen without deep and complicated emotions. Pearl knew that fusion was involved somehow, its lingering glow could trigger things in the separated component gems that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. And of course…. Pearl snorted at her own prudishness, mad that even thinking the word made her both warm and cold, embarrassed and excited at her want, but thankfully never ashamed. Both fusion and sex had been completely outlawed on Homeworld, and even those granted ‘special permission’ had been treated as if they were soiled from it. Pearl wondered if the other pearls had loved their owners that much, really loved them, loved them by choice because even when they found out exactly what carrying geodes meant, the glow that seemed to follow them never left. And even if they disappeared forever when they were used and no longer unsoiled, they’d been proud in their last moments. Pearl felt her heart hurt at that remembrance and pushed it far away.

              There was no telling how Garnet would feel. This was unplanned, unprecedented. For as long as Ruby and Sapphire had been together they’d never had this happen to them, never had to worry about it – rubies being soldiers and sapphires being rare scryers meant that they were purposely made with near zero fertility – and Pearl had a feeling they didn’t even know it was a possibility. Would they think she tricked them into being together to have these gemlings? Pearl had to remind herself that she’d never do that, she was better than that, stronger than that and didn’t even want a gemling running around – she had her darling Steven and that was enough. It was possible to get rid of it. It was around a week or so old, barely formed but just recognizable. It had no consciousness yet. It was just an extension of her light, with a bit of Garnet’s mixed in as well. It would be dangerous to get rid of it though and Pearl didn’t want to, if she were honest with herself. It was Garnet’s choice too, she owed her that much. It was scary of course. A gemling was a liability, because it would grow, the same way Steven had. Someone would have to be there to care for the gem. To teach it. To help it grow up. And so much could go wrong.

              Garnet could hate her, for one, Pearl started her list. All of this was so new, and though it would take the geode a whole two years before it was even ready to be extracted, Pearl had started to realize that that was plenty of time to screw things up. Steven would be eighteen and there were innumerable ways Pearl could fuck up what was arguably the best thing to happen to her in a long time by then. Pearl felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes, but forced herself to keep going. Making the list would help her move on. And she had to be strong. She’d promised Garnet after all. The gemling or gemlings could hate her, for two. Pearl loved Steven and knew she’d helped mold him into the brilliantly kind young man he was at sixteen. But there always seemed to be so much more of everyone else in him than her. It was scary. Pearl knew all the things she was bad at, and all the things she got wrong, her perfectionism, her neuroticism, how petty she could be. She didn’t think she’d be a good parent, not for a gem. She’d just mess it up and end up making their daughter – Pearl laughed, so happy at that word – hate her forever. For three, there was a tiny, tiny chance that Steven wouldn’t be happy about this. It would be too weird, or he’d be jealous or feel like it was a betrayal of his mom. She’d been her Great Love, and Pearl had almost died for her many a time. Never once had they formed geodes, for all the fusing and sleeping together they’d done. Pearl had already gone through and accepted that can of worms, and had of course moved on, with Garnet, but Steven being offended about it was still a possibility, no matter how unreasonable it sounded when she really thought about it.

              “Pearl you’ve been scrubbing that dish raw for twenty minutes. Bawling into the sink isn’t going to get it any cleaner.”

              The world came into to sharp focus and Pearl barely caught the dish when it fell out of her shocked hand towards the floor. Long tracks of tears stained her face and the death grip she had on the cleaning rag had turned her knuckles white. Whipping around, Pearl saw Garnet leaning on the counter next to her, expression unreadable, especially with her eyes behind her visor. Pearl sniffled loudly, breaking the eerie silence in the kitchen. With slow deliberate movements, Garnet carefully extracted the dish and rag from Pearl’s hands and left them to sink under soapy water. She took Pearl’s still white knuckles and kissed them, and then wiped at Pearl’s tears with a thumb, finally flicking her visor down to look her in the eyes. This only made Pearl cry harder, unsure how to handle a situation she had hoped to postpone for several more weeks at least.

              Garnet pulled her into a hug, hard against her chest. Scooping her legs up in one arm, she rubbed Pearl’s back with the other, allowing a bit of heat into the gem there, carrying her towards the Temple door. It was difficult to maneuver her hands to open the door to The Boiler around a sobbing Pearl, who had decided to bury her face into Garnet’s shoulder and cry openly, her tiny body wracking and shaking. As Garnet crossed the room, she heard Pearl sniffle and try to wipe at her face with her hands. Doing so revealed the mess of tears and snot she’d left on Garnet’s shoulder, which caused her to break down and cry again. Garnet knew that when Pearl got like this the only thing to do was let her cry herself out.

              It seemed like hours to Pearl before she took a shuddering breath, her body utterly spent of tears. Every inch of her ached, it felt like her whole body had been crying. Steeling herself, she took another breath, rubbed a red, sore eye and looked sheepishly up at Garnet. They were on the bed that lay in the far back hidden alcove of the Boiler room, Garnet cross-legged, with Pearl in between, warm and safe in her arms. She looked back at the wet spot she’d left on Garnet’s armor, face heating turquoise, about to reach and try to rub it away, when Garnet stayed her hand.

              “Pearl.” Garnet’s voice was low and full of concern.

              This was the moment. Pearl tried to keep her body from shaking and squeezed her hands roughly together. With a deep breath, she untangled herself from Garnet’s embrace, pulling herself out of the taller gems lap, but still sat close. It was that Garnet was too warm and too real for her to be able to say it when they were that close, she had to make some distance, physically. And emotionally. The concerned line of Garnet’s mouth and ever so slight tilt of her head towards her was almost too much to bear, but she swallowed past the ache and pushed into herself just a little bit of pettiness. Just a little of the old Pearl, who could be mean and selfish and unafraid.

              “I’m carrying. Geodes. Garnet.” Pearl barely managed to squeak the words out and her face fell when all she saw from Garnet was confusion. “A gemling. Like a baby, but…. ours?” Pearl ended the sentence with a hopeful question, trying her best to force a smile on her face despite the roiling mix of decidedly unhappy emotions she was feeling.

              To anyone else, Garnet’s slight jitter would be imperceptible. But Pearl had known her too long and too well to be fooled; she was trying not to come undone. The line of Garnet’s mouth creased in a deep frown, and her fingers twitched. Pearl felt her stomach drop, and thought she might be sick, even though she didn’t eat, and it shouldn’t be possible.

              “Pearl, I’m not angry.” Pearl sensed there was a ‘but’ to follow that particular declaration and so she only nodded, pulling her legs up close to her chin, as if it could protect her from whatever was coming next. When Garnet continued, her voice was strained, “But Ruby and Sapphire want to talk to you.”

              There was a flash and then there they were, Ruby and Sapphire falling apart onto the bed with two muffled thuds. Sapphire crossed her legs and floated slightly above the bed, her face unreadable, a blast of cold hitting Pearl and making her teeth chatter. Ruby, for her part, lay on the bed like a star fish, unmoving, pupils blown wide and dark. Pearl gulped and fought back against the fresh onslaught of tears threatening to start up again.

              With a shout, Ruby was up like a shot. With the passion that was so characteristic of her, she jumped up and down on the bed and screamed, part of the comforter darkening under her feet. Pearl was honestly afraid it would catch fire.

              “We’re having a gemling! This is so exciting! Sapphire, we’re gonna have a little baby gem! With Pearl!” Ruby whooped, reaching to grab Sapphire and twirl her around. Ruby deflated immediately when Sapphire pushed her hand away. Ice spread under her, turning to water where it met with the hot spot under Ruby’s feet. Despite Garnet’s assurances otherwise, Sapphire’s expression was terrifyingly molten. She looked even angrier than when she had sent that baseball flying into the stratosphere.

              “Sapphy, we told Pearl we weren’t mad,” Ruby pouted.

              “I’m not mad.” Sapphire’s tone was pure ice, which did little to cool Ruby’s passionate feelings. “I’m just disappointed. And hurt.”

              “Sapphire, what’s there to be disappointed about-“

              “Be serious Ruby! Did you even think about what this means? I’d ask you to use your brain and think about why I’m disappointed for a minute, but I already know that’s a waste of effort, so I guess I’ll just tell you. Pearl’s being selfish again. When Rose h-had S-steven…” Sapphire’s angry rant trailed off into tears, and Ruby was too stricken to stay offended at her earlier comment.

Through her tears Sapphire continued, her anger flaring back again, “We just got to have Pearl, and now we’re going to lose her again and – and – how do you know she didn’t choose this? Pearl’s the one carrying, and it shouldn’t be possible. After last time….”

              “You think she tricked us? We told Pearl we trusted her again! We can’t just assume Sapphire! You’re doing it again! Just because one of the futures didn’t work out, doesn’t mean all of them are like that. You’re wasting the now!” Ruby groaned at this and flopped onto the bed, arms crossed.

              “Well, at least I’m not being a child about it!” Sapphire yelled, pulling Ruby up to get into her face.

              Pearl bit her tongue, pain flaring hard and bringing the world back into focus. Tears pooled into her eyes and fell in long tracks down her face. “Stop. Stop, please. I – Ruby, Sapphire, I can’t bear to be the reason you unfused, the reason you’re fighting. Not again.” Pearl’s voice grew smaller, and smaller as she spoke, her fingers white-knuckling around her knees. “If – if these gemlings are just going to cause fighting and pain, then I’ll go. I’ll leave and won’t trouble Garnet again, and they’ll be my problem. I’ll keep it a secret and be the best Crystal Gem I can be, but I, I won’t make you deal with it. It’ll just be a stupid mistake, like all the other ones I’ve made.”

              Ruby felt her own tears form and slide down her face as she watched Pearl start to unfold herself to leave. For a long moment, she hated herself, stupid and powerless. The two most important gems in her life were both crying, she was crying and everything was a mess. Then she took a breath.

              “No.” Ruby tugged on the bow of Pearl’s tunic, holding it gently, almost reverently. Pearl was halfway off the bed, one foot touching the ground when she stopped.

              “Let’s all just take a deep breath. We can fix this. We can talk about it, like adult gems, just like how you and Garnet have solved every relationship issue so far.” Ruby managed to blubber out through her tears, wiping her eyes clear with the palm of one hand.

              Sapphire took a long shuddering breath and then allowed herself to fall into Ruby’s arms, letting her whispered words of love fill her. The two of them stayed like that, swaying a little, whispering and apologizing, until Sapphire laughed at Ruby’s teasing. Pearl pulled her knees back up to her chin and scrunched into the corner of the wall that the bed was against, making herself small. Ruby and Sapphire did love her, but sometimes they just needed each other and she never wanted to get in the way of that. While the two of them reconciled she cried quietly again into her knees, it felt good to let the tears out.

              When two hands laid on her knees – a contrast of cold and hot between them – she looked up into Ruby and Sapphire’s earnest faces. With a loud, ugly sniffle she tried to wipe away the tears spilling from her eyes. “I’m sorry I can’t stop crying,” Pearl choked out, chest heaving with useless breaths. They weren’t centering her like they should’ve been. It was too easy to fall back into the crying, the vortex of tears pulling at her.

              Sapphire whispered something to Ruby, kissing her chastely on the cheek, and a wicked grin spread across the red gem’s face. Before Pearl had a chance to process their exchange, Ruby had scooped her up in her arms and backed out of the corner, depositing her, still crying, onto the center of the bed. The smaller gem then straddled her, grin growing wickeder. Pearl’s tears finally slowed as she processed what was going on, her face, already burning from emotion, going somehow bluer at her proximity. Pearl swallowed, so distracted by Ruby that she didn’t notice Sapphire pulling off her ballet flats and socks. When Ruby started tickling her sides she yelped and then laughed until it hurt when Sapphire tickled just so on her feet and behind her knees, all her weak spots vulnerable with Ruby keeping her pinned under her weight. The onslaught continued until Pearl let out a loud snort, sending Ruby and Sapphire into howling fits of laughter which finally gave her some reprieve from their attack. By the time the three of them had calmed down enough to be coherent they were all holding their stomachs in a tangled heap on the bed. Pearl smiled down at the two smaller gems, Ruby lying across her stomach and tangled into Sapphire at her side.

              “Hey, there’s your smile again. I missed it,” Ruby remarked, crawling off of the heap to sit on the bed.

              “So did I,” Sapphire admitted, sitting next to Ruby, and running her hand distractedly up and down her leg, to eventually settle cool fingers on her knee.

              Pearl sat up, cross legged and still catching her breath. The grin on her face widened, and she finally, finally thought she could calm down. The list from earlier had been drowned and then blown away by their shared laughter and Pearl felt a tentative spark of hope when she thought back to Ruby’s enthusiastic reaction. “Yes, it’s nice not to hurt about this,” Pearl admitted, playing with a loose thread on the comforter.

              The silence after that remark stretched much too long, Ruby and Sapphire trying not to get lost in their feelings for each other and Pearl working to keep the smile and, if not good, at least not hurt mood from fading. It was Ruby that finally broke it, crawling over and settling on one half of Pearl’s lap.

              Placing a hand on her stomach, Ruby rested it there, letting the comforting heat from her gem flow into Pearl and said, “So, a gemling, huh?”

              Pearl looked down at the hand on her stomach and then laughed again when the realization struck her. Taking Ruby’s hand, she placed it on her gem, and felt her gulp. Ruby was flustered that Pearl still loved her enough to let her do something so intimate, even though the tense atmosphere still pervaded. Afterall, Garnet was her own gem and Pearl loving her was different from loving her components. When Ruby shyly met Pearl’s eyes, they were brimming with a playful sincerity, letting her know there should’ve never been any doubt. There would never need to be any doubt.

              Sapphire looked on at them shyly, almost guiltily, her façade cool and composed, but Pearl could tell there were a lot of emotions buried deep there. She held out her hand and smiled, and Ruby beckoned her over. Sapphire took Pearl’s hand and allowed herself to be pulled onto Pearl’s lap beside Ruby. Slowly she brought her gemmed hand beside Ruby’s, the intimacy not lost on her, letting a bit of cold flash into Pearl’s gem. Pearl hummed at the pleasant sensation, a wave of calm washing over her.

              “ _Gemlings._ Plural. And they grow in the gem, not in a shapeshifted womb, like Steven, until they’re ready to be extracted. After that, uh, well I haven’t seen it, but I heard they sort of burst forth from the geodes, kind of like what happens when we reform after poofing, except more violent. Like an egg hatching.” Pearl started her explanation, and shivered when Ruby made a slow circle of her gem, her eyes turning starry at the thought. Sapphire still seemed hesitant, although her anger seemed to have faded to the background for the time being. When Ruby was finished she removed her hand, laying her face to Pearl’s chest and pulling her arm around her to snuggle in.

              Pearl continued, the talking becoming easier as she slipped into teacher mode. “So, what do you know about gemlings? Do you have any questions you want to ask before I go on?”

              Sapphire snorted, and Pearl tensed ever so slightly. Ruby ran a light, comforting touch over her stomach to calm her back down as Sapphire held her gaze and asked, “Why did you do this Pearl?”

              “I didn’t mean to!” Pearl sighed, only Ruby’s steadying hand keeping her from panicking. “I only just figured out that I was carrying myself and the realization was a lot to process. I did plan on telling Garnet, but not today. Not until I’d figured out the words to say. This is so new. I knew geodes were a possibility that existed, but the fertility rate in gems is so small that I didn’t think it would ever happen. To be honest I don’t even know how it happens, just that there are three small points of light growing in my gem. Three small points of my light mixed with Garnet’s light.”

              Ruby let out an excited squeal, nuzzling her face into Pearl’s chest and then sighed, completely and unabashedly happy at the prospect. Someone had to be happy about it, she decided.  Sapphire looked at Pearl seriously, challenging her to look away. After a long agonizing second, the blue gem laughed freely and snuggled into Pearl, pulling her arm tightly around her.

              “I believe you. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

              “It’s alright, Sapphire, I’m just-“

              Sapphire stopped her with a finger to her lips, and pulled back her bangs to look her in the eyes. She knew Pearl appreciated that, just like when Garnet removed her visor. “I’m serious Pearl. I am sorry. This is scary for you too, and I only made you feel worse by immediately jumping to the conclusion that this was some sort of planned trick.”

              “I’ve already forgiven you, Sapphire.”

              “I understand why I never foresaw this possibility.”

              Pearl gave a grunt to continue as she twisted to grab at the pillows on the bed that were in disarray from their earlier behaviour. Ordering them by size, with the medium one behind her and against the wall, she leaned back a bit, allowing herself to relax against the pillow. Sapphire and Ruby followed, wrapped in her arms.

              After they were all settled again, Sapphire continued, “I can’t forsee things that I am not aware of. I didn’t even know that gemlings could happen, could exist, so even though this future was a possibility, I had no way of seeing it.”

              “It’s not your fault, Sapphire.”

              “It’s not anyone’s fault,” Sapphire said pointedly in Pearl’s direction.

              “So how long until the geodes are ready? A couple weeks, a couple months?” Ruby asked excitedly, drumming her fingers against a knee. She was practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation.

              “A couple years actually. They take a lot of energy to form, and since most of the energy of my gem goes to maintaining my physical form and its processes there isn’t much to spare to the geodes. As well every time I fuse, shapeshift or poof the time increases. Unfortunately near the end of the process I’ll have to start eating since they need a lot of energy for the extraction.”

              “Extraction? Will that hurt?”

              Pearl tensed, muscles rigid. After a few deep breaths to center herself she replied, “I’ve never seen an extraction happen and I’m not sure how it works, but I was near enough to hear the gem it happened to. And from the screams I heard, it sounded excruciatingly painful.”

              Ruby took Pearl’s hand, brushed her fingers over the knuckles and gave it a quick kiss. Then she went to work on massaging the tension out of it. “Well, Garnet will be there, and Steven with his healing spit and some of Rose’s healing waters. We’ll make sure things go as smoothly as possible. You won’t have to do this alone.”

              “Ruby,” Pearl said, trying to hide the sentimental smile from her face. She let out a long sigh when a particularly tense spot on her hands was kneaded by the smaller gem.

              “You don’t have to do that.”

              “Trust me,” Sapphire started, pulling Pearl’s other hand between her own, following the same motions Ruby did, “She likes it. Ruby’s favorite part of you is your hands.”

              “Sapphire!” Ruby shouted, blushing deeply, her gem flaring hot. Pearl winced slightly and Ruby, mortified, managed to stop her gem from heating any further just fast enough to avoid a burn. Ruby rubbed soft circles on Pearl’s hand until it returned to normal and then resumed the massage, Sapphire winking and sending a Cheshire grin her way.

              “Hey, Pearl.”

              “Yes, Ruby?”

              “Sapphire likes your butt. That’s her favorite part.”

              It was Pearl’s turn to blush and stammer, while Ruby stuck her tongue out at Sapphire, both still holding Pearl’s hands in their own. Ruby continued, unable to resist teasing both of them a little bit further. “Yep, she’s why Garnet grabs your butt all the time. I of course am a sophisticated gem, without such crude and baseless tastes. Why I bet I could write poetry about your hands!”

              “Don’t let her,” Sapphire commented cryptically, seemingly unfazed by Ruby’s comment, “She’ll spend all day trying to rhyme something with orange or purple and end up starting something on fire.”

              “That was one time, Sapphy! I’m sorry I didn’t get exiled from a human settlement and have years to practice writing romantic lyrical poetry on some island. And don’t change the subject.”

              “You’re the one that brought the poetry up. And yes, Ruby’s right. I do really like your butt, Pearl.” Every word was as cool and effortless as the last when Sapphire spoke, and it seemed like there was just a tinge of gloating mixed into her tone, showing off to Ruby that she would not be flustered by such attempts.

              “Maybe we should continue on with the lesson about gemlings, now, okay?” Pearl fumbled the words, trying to bring them back around to a topic that wasn’t going to get her so incredibly flustered so easily. Hearing Sapphire be so blunt about something like that had spread her blush all the way to the tips of her ears, and she was growing too warm too fast. Which wouldn’t do at all. They still had plenty to talk about after all.

              Mercifully Sapphire let the teasing subject drop and the questions and answers about the gemlings continued. Pearl started to explain what she knew, and the rest of what she had extrapolated, Sapphire jumping in with a question once in a while. Ruby only asked one of her own – would the gemling be Sardonyx or something else – and, after Pearl explained, spent the rest of the conversation in a warm haze, one hand holding Sapphire’s and the other drawing lazy shapes on the flat expanse of Pearl’s stomach. Pearl giggled once in a while from the contact and Ruby sighed, it had been so long since all three of them had been like this and so happy.

              It had been a few minutes, the conversation gearing up to be long and in-depth, getting dangerously close to talking about Homeworld and some of the more awful things that had happened to other pearls there, when Sapphire smiled in Ruby’s direction with a sly wink, “She’s not going to say no if you ask her, Ruby.”

              “Ask me what?” Pearl said, her voice hitching an uncomfortable octave higher than she wanted it to.  

              Ruby smirked, winking back at Sapphire and pulling out the charm. Hooking a finger under Pearl’s chin she turned her face towards her and stretched up, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. Ruby moved to her nose, and then the sensitive spot just below her ear, making Pearl sigh.

              The kisses became a little deeper as she trailed down to Pearl’s throat, until a quick warning of, “Gently, gently,” came from Sapphire. “The hickies from last time are still tender.”

              Pearl had one hand clutching roughly at Ruby’s back searching for purchase, and the other was being held by Sapphire, who was rubbing and kissing the knuckles, reminding her that this was allowed, this was okay. The smile on Pearl’s face was small, but there was a tightness to it, and a shine in her eyes that betrayed her body easily.

              Ruby was moving back up her throat, kisses open mouthed and hot now, and stopped at her lips. When she asked, it was through half lidded eyes, her voice rough and husky, “Can we just not?”

              Pearl expressed her confusion with a low whine, wrapping Ruby and Sapphire into a bony hug. For a second both the smaller gems thought she might start crying again, but she only took a few deep steadying breaths and forced her eyes skyward, cheeks blazing turquoise.

              “Let’s just be here. The three of us. We have lots of time to discuss the gemlings. Years to discuss it. I just want to enjoy being here with you two,” Ruby admitted, a little shyly. She tucked a lock of Pearl’s hair behind her ear, not sure what to do. Sapphire was squished against her in Pearl’s bony embrace leaving them little room to move, but neither minded much, and Sapphire laughed softly, letting it ripple through Ruby and Pearl.

              “What should we do then?” Pearl asked, looking back down at the two smaller gems nearly crushed to her chest. Rubbing noses with Sapphire first and then Ruby, she loosened her arms, giving them room to move around. “It has been such a long time. I mean with the three of us.”

              “Even longer since it’s been happy,” Sapphire admitted, nervously playing with a lock of hair.

              “I wanna braid your hair!” Ruby interrupted, the flush on her cheeks deep enough to see even despite her red hue.

              “It was so lovely when it was long,” Sapphire continued for Ruby, “I don’t think we ever told you how much it meant that you’d let us braid it for you. Because we didn’t ask, we just did, not talking. It was nice. During the war. Not to think. Just to do.”

              “Yeah. And then Crazy Lace had to tease you about it and you never wore it like that again,” Ruby snorted in annoyance. “Me and Bismuth-“

              “Bismuth and I,” Sapphire and Pearl corrected simultaneously. Ruby just rolled her eyes.

              “Bismuth and I damn near bit her head off, and would’ve gotten a few good hits in if Sapphire and Rose hadn’t stopped us.”

              Pearl laughed, hard. “So that’s why Crazy Lace looked scared every time I even looked in her direction. Thank you. And yes.”

              As Pearl spoke, her gem glowed softly, hair growing longer and falling to between her shoulder blades. Ruby wiggled out of her arms and went to stand behind her, running her fingers slowly through her hair, as if memorizing the feel. Pearl felt Sapphire move and understood immediately. With long, delicate strokes she brushed her fingers through Sapphire’s hair, long dormant feelings bubbling up. For a second she felt panic – they’d only ever done this during the war – but it faded quickly with Ruby’s warm hands and Sapphire softly humming a wordless tune from long ago. Things were good. Peaceful. They were happy and having a gemling together. Most importantly, they had time. So much more time. This was no rushed ritual to ease anxiety. No longing looks or touches that might be their last. This was home. Peace.

              “Maybe after this we could cuddle and sleep for a little while,” Ruby casually suggested, halfway through the second braid of Pearl’s long hair. For her part, Pearl was pulling two braids she’d made of Sapphire’s hair, into a crown behind her head, and she grunted non-committally at first, her brain pleasantly foggy. Ruby and Sapphire didn’t press, content to allow the thought to slowly work through her brain and let her process it. Pearl had fallen asleep after her and Garnet’s second time, much to her embarrassment. And that time there had been no uncomfortable dreams of Greg and Rose. Just her, and Garnet and a million stars spinning as they danced. Pearl had woken slowly in Garnet’s arms and she’d had to admit that it was rather nice, with the right person, of course.

              “I suppose I could try sleeping,” Pearl mumbled. If she were honest, she was actually exhausted from the whiplash of emotions she’d felt for most of the day.

              “Dibs big spoon,” Ruby said, trying to keep her hands steady despite her overwhelming desire to shout with happiness. They were supposed to be relaxing, after all.

              “Don’t worry, Pearl,” Sapphire continued, twisting around, to look her in the eyes. “Garnet will be there when you wake up.”

              Pearl was glad of that. But she didn’t miss the long, heated look Sapphire gave her before she turned back to allow Pearl to continue braiding her hair. It was obvious she’d see Ruby and Sapphire again, and soon. And she was glad of that too.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, critiques and reviews always welcome and appreciated! They feed the writer!


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